Church does not support or encourage coups, says Venezuelan archbishop

Archbishop Roberto Luckert

Caracas, Venezuela, Jul 13, 2009 / 07:07 pm (CNA).- The vice president of the Venezuelan Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Roberto Luckert, said last week the Church neither supports nor encourages coups and that he never felt the coup carried out by President Hugo Chavez was justified.

According to the “Diario Catolico,” the archbishop said the Church condemns military coups and that in the case of Honduras, the democratic rule of law was not broken during the process that led to the ouster of President Manuel Zelaya.

Nevertheless, he said there was a “somewhat dark connotation” to the forced change of power in that country and that the case should be reviewed. “Institutionally speaking, with the legal tools they have in their hands, they should have carried out an investigation of the president,” he said.

Archbishop Luckert also questioned the impartiality of the Secretary General of the Organization of American States, Jose Miguel Insulza. “Insulza is worried about OAS elections. Right now this organization is nothing more than a president’s club which caters to them but not to the people,” he said.

The archbishop went on to defend his right to express an opinion. “The thing is they don’t like it when the Church doesn’t remain silent about the problems occurring in the country,” he said.